FELIDAE CONSERVATION FUND

Using apex predators - large wild cats - as a focal point , we conserve wildlife in the urban-wildland edge. Our goal is to establish a model of urban edge conservation in the San Francisco Bay area - a biodiversity "hotspot" that has seen significant urban growth in recent years. In a corridor north of Santa Rosa, through San Francisco and south to San Jose a resplendent and critical wild graces our living. While several organizations work to conserve this "wild", local residents are the true beneficiaries of this wild and the logical stewards as well. The Bay Area Puma Project engages local residents in stewardship of the urban-wildland edge through citizen science opportunities, volunteer opportunities, community discussions and field trips, and in-school education programs. We employ the charismatic puma and the striking bobcat as our research targets, understanding that their presence is a sign of and vital to our area's biodiversity. Combining real science - garnered from data collected using cameras, biological sampling (scat, fur and collected carcasses) and GPS tracking of puma we identify populations, estimate their occurrence and density, analyze their health and resilience, follow their movements. We use this data to inform local agencies, developers and transit authorities about wild cat activity, particularly to better understand how populations are thriving, connecting and interacting with areas of human development. We also use our data to better understand wild cat behavior and condition in order to contribute to the greater knowledgebase on pumas. Finally we share our data with communities in order to inspire stewardship and reduce fears about living with wildlife. We believe a corps of approximately 1,000 active volunteers (2-4 hours/month) will be a strong stewardship team for this area. So we seek to raise our current volunteer roster from 300 to 1,000 this coming year! And we seek to work with other conservation groups across the Bay Area to assure a positive future for the area's wildlife and for the people living with and around it. We are currently focused on connectivity and exposure to toxins such as anticoagulant rodenticides, and out data collection will assess the correlation of stress hormones, coupled with endoparasitic loads as well as toxicant exposures through collection of scat and hair DNA.

Research: conduct rigorous holistic research in our study areas via data collection using cameras, scat and hair for DNA, and using citizen scientists led by professional biologists; Partnerships: work with partners to create a comprehensive database of wildcat data for the SF Bay Area; Community Outreach: using a combination of social media, guerilla marketing, community presentations and K-12 school programs pilot 5 new stewards to the Bay Area Puma Project to staff and support the conservation of the Bay Area's urban-wildland edge and its rich biodiversity; Scale: once the model is established we will bring it to other areas where urban hubs permeate areas of rich biodiversity and where large carnivores are still present.
We have built a new cloud database to input our data form 140 remote sensing cameras deployed throughout the Bay Area. The new Cloud DB is called Wilde Pod and will be an open source database, for the public share data and view data. The system uses AI and machine learning to clean data and to conduct species ID.

We have on staff a full time Wildlife ecologist (PhD) who serves as principal investigator for the Bay Area Puma Project (BAPP); we also have a full time field biologist (MS) on the BAPP; a part-time administrator manages our office and volunteers. We have a second field biologist (MS) working on the strategy and an Executive Director (MBA - seasoned NGO manager) working on strategy, development and general management. Finally we have a consulting wildlife biology scientist and professor who works with us on strategy and research design and manuscripts for papers we publish. We have professional volunteers who support the team with finance, outreach, design, technology development, game development (Puma Wild - available in iOS). And our Board of Directors are actively engaged in all aspects of our work.

To date we have collected more than 5 million images of wildlife in the San Francisco Bay area; collection is ongoing with more than 140 cameras placed across our current five-county study area. We have worked with more than 600 volunteers working an average of 2 to 4 hours a month who continue to steward our wildlands. We have published 3 papers on puma occupancy, road hazards, and body condition in the Bay Area. We have reached more than 300,000 Bay Area residents through our outreach efforts - and more than 40,000 children have participated in our CAT Aware education program - a three-day series that includes a one-day field trip into "lion country" with one of our biologists. We have a small social media following (6,000 Facebook followers) and will be launching a series of campaigns to use digital media to recruit more volunteers and distribute our education materials to more classrooms through teachers. Our CAT Aware program is currently being revised for online access! And we have prevented numerous puma deaths by working with local communities and law enforcement to avoid depredation of those few bothersome puma. So we've had some great successes!